For several years, it has been the practice to provide mass transit vehicles with a cornice lighting fixture of the type disclosed in Domas et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,415 granted Jun. 7, 1983 which is assigned to the assignee of this invention. That cornice lighting fixture comprises an elongated panel member preferably formed by pultrusion from resin and glass fibers. The elongated panel member includes a trim panel and a light housing enclosing a fluorescent tube and disposed at the upper inboard edge of the panel. The unitary panel member is mounted in the corner of the sidewall and roof of the vehicle and coacts with the sidewall and roof to define a longitudinally extending air conditioning duct. The panel member is provided at its upper inboard edge with a lamp housing having a horizontal wall and a vertical wall which form a longitudinally extending channel adapted to receive a fluorescent tube. A removable elongated lens is disposed on the housing to distribute light from the fluorescent tube into the passenger seating area and to supply a controlled amount of light to the aisle.
A transit vehicle lighting fixture of which may be used in place of that described above is disclosed in Mikalonis U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,322 granted May 12, 1992 which is assigned to the assignee of this invention.
With changing demands in regard to mass transit, it has now become desirable to provide transit vehicles with overhead luggage compartments above the seating area on each side of the aisle for use by the individual passenger to stow their brief cases, luggage and the like. In many public transit systems, it is desired to provide such luggage racks as a retrofit on existing transit vehicles which are equipped with the prior art lighting fixtures described above. Also, in many public transit systems, it is desired to procure new transit vehicles which are to be equipped with luggage compartments in addition to air conditioning ducts and passenger compartment lighting of the type described above.
Accordingly, there is a need for a combined luggage compartment, air conditioning duct and lighting fixture which can be installed on the vehicle as original equipment or as a retrofit equipment wherein the luggage compartment is compatible with the prior art air conditioning duct and the requirements for passenger compartment lighting.
A general object of this invention is to provide a combined luggage compartment, air conditioning duct and lighting fixture for mass transit vehicles.